Disappearing Pineapple Cupcake

When I eat a cupcake it usually consists of my whole mouth encompassing a large portion of the cupcake to get the frosting, center, and cake all in one glorious bite, and then little bites to get a little bit of both and savor the rest. There are a few exceptions: 1) cupcakes that I inhale, because I cannot help the deliciousness from flowing into my mouth and 2) cupcakes where I am hunting for something inside of it.

Often in Cupcake Wars on food network you hear them say they didn't get enough of this flavor that was stated to have been there, or that they didn't taste it at all. I am usually confused by this statement. Bewildered by how they could not taste what sounds delectable or sometimes even strange. Yet today I had that first experience.

I had bought a Pineapple Right-side up cupcake from Pheobe's cupcakes last Saturday to eat in celebration of the Bear's going to the Superbowl. Alas, this did not happen. Therefore it waited for me for another celebration in the fridge. Today I decided it was a day to celebrate and devour a cupcake I had never had before. The cherry on top was exciting enough. I slurped it up before the rest of the cupcake was out of it's liner. I took one bite and enjoyed the soft cake, but something was missing. I literally picked at this cupcake. A little bit of the cake: soft, moist, buttery. A little bit of the filling: sweet, kinda caramel-esque flavored. A little bit of the frosting: delicious butter cream in a perfect thick swirl on top. But something was off...
Then I realized.
Where was the pineapple?!

There was no actual pineapple slice anywhere, as I had imagined in my head hiding underneath that beautiful frosting awaiting my teeth to sink into it's sweet crunch. There wasn't a heavy flavor of pineapple juice in the cake. The middle may have had a bit of the sweetness to a pineapple, but no real pineapple taste anywhere. The cake was yellow, buttery, and had a little spice. But the fruit was missing. It had disappeared. No bite could find it.

The cupcake is not listed on the Pheobe's website as one of the flavors. Although these do, sorta, rotate weekly, perhaps it's just not a usual one and that's where the slip up happened. Or the sign was mislabeled? I don't know what had happened, but the perfectly fine cupcake ended up being more disappointing because of the missing ingredient that should have been key.

Don't lose your sweet tooth
- Mollie